A Twist in the Tale
by MetallicVoice
Summary: Somehow, Ven knew meddling with the world order would result into something like this. Prince Philip/Aqua/Terra/Cinderella. oneshot.


"I want to thank you again for everything."

The Castle of Dreams glinted with lights, just as grand and pretty as the first time Cinderella had alighted from her pumpkin carriage. the difference being, it wasn't just Ven she was with. All three Keyblade apprentices were present, and this time, she had no curfew to follow, allowing her free reign to do as she pleases. Her wedding gown glowed in the dimness of the light, reflecting the moonlight nicely. During the reception, the three knights have arrived for a visit, and Cinderella had happily rushed to meet them, regardless of the looks she had gotten. Her attention was particularly concentrated on the tallest Chaser (but she made sure not to ignore the other two. They had equally helped her make her dreams come true.)

"It was your Heart that had allowed to make your dreams come true, not just us." Terra said, a small smile on his face. It was funny. Ven and Aqua had always told her that Terra was the sort of person to stood aloof, cold and serious. And yet she couldn't find another person more trustworthy than him. It was him who had supported her during her darkest hour, who actually told her to not give up. And she owed him a lot for that.

"No, listen. If it weren't for you... I would never be where I am right now. Happy." she beamed up at him, her fingers fidgeting in the gloves she's wearing. And then she heard a thud.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Aqua had ran into Ven. Before the conversation, Aqua had given a smile in greeting and congratulations, but when her talk with Terra started, the blue-haired girl had taken on pacing the grass, almost impatiently. (Ven was animatedly talking to Gas and Jaq.) Aqua mumbled a sharp apology to Ven, before resuming what she was doing, armored shoes going back and forth against the dark green ground. Ven stared at the older chaser, a small frown forming on his countenance in obvious confusion. Cinderella felt a small smile tug at her lips. She knew what the girl was thinking.

And truth to be told, if... if everything hadn't turned out as they were, maybe. Maybe she would have chosen a different choice and given up on the Prince. But now she was the princess, and yes, she knew the worlds are too different. That was a fleeting dream she had to let go.

Cinderella turned away for a moment, bending down to reach for something. As she distinctly heard Ven ask Aqua what's wrong with her, and felt Terra turn his attention to his two friends, she straightened up, just as Aqua stalked off.

"Terra."

The Keyblade wielder turned his attention back to the Princess of Light, and Cinderella placed her glass slippers into his hands. Terra blinked at the tiny pair of glass footwear.

"Give these to Aqua please." she smiled. Terra looked at her in utter confusion, and she couldn't help but giggle. "She can do whatever she wants with them."

Terra blinked again, obviously not getting any of this, and Ven yelled at him, pointing at Aqua's retreating figure in the distance. Hurriedly, Terra gave one last bow of respect to Cinderella, before running after his friends.

As she watched three armored figures disappear into the starry sky, Cinderella sighed.

"Take care of him, Aqua."

Not again.

Okay, just how _dense_ can two people get?

Ven watched wearily as Terra paced the ground in front of him, throwing calculating glances at the figure of Prince Philip and Aqua talking. Ven new this world had bad memories for Terra but...

... This is just. Sad.

He's no idiot. He knows what all that business in the Castle of Dreams was about (as if Aqua's obvious grand exit hadn't made it obvious enough.) Aqua insisting they revisited the Enchanted Dominion next after that was no coincidence either. This situation would be less sucky it weren't for the fact that _he_ was the one getting the brunt force of the blows _when he's not even involved in it._

"Ow!"

Ven skipped up and down on one foot because _that was his foot and Terra of all people stepped on it._ Sadly, his best friend didn't notice, still resuming what he was doing, and the youngest chaser lost his patience.

"Oh come on, can the two of you stop it already?!" he growled out, causing Terra to freeze and quirk an eyebrow at him as if he was a kid yelling he wanted candy.

"Stop what?"

"You know what I mean. Or not. I don't care. Ever since we left the Castle of Dreams, you and Aqua had been going at each other." At the words, Terra glanced away, stubbornly crossing his arms. Ven resisted the urge to summon his helmet and throw it at Terra's head.

"This has been going on for years, come on. Can't the two of you already admit you like each other?" Ven argued, wanting to pull at his hair in frustration. that evoked a response. Terra's face turned scarlet, eyebrows furrowing.

"D-don't be mistaken, Ven. Who would like someone who's... _Aqua_? She's--" Terra argued, suddenly getting cut off when his top turned pink. Ven stared, mouth agape, as Terra dusted off pink sparkle dust, and the two boys swung around. Aqua had stolen a wand from an equally shocked Flora, with a look of total loathing on their face (Ven swore her hair was standing). They both knew that expression. For Ven, it meant hiding and running somewhere, presumably even going back to Eraqus to ask for extra chores just to not face that wrath. For Terra, it meant possibly meeting Master Xehanort again and reconsidering his options in desperation.

"Aqua--"

"Talk to me when you're not retarded." she breathed sharply, brushing past them, on the way accidentally stepping on Ven's other foot. The young boy yowled again, yelling out words that Terra knew he heard a blue alien uttered (and that Jumba had confirmed to be curse words.) Ignoring him for now, Terra chased after the magician, lest she should fly off and the game of inter-galactic space tag should start all over again, this time in a reverse order.

"Aqua, wait."

_"What."_

Like a fish out of water, Terra's mouth opened and closed on its own accord, at a loss for words. It didn't help the situation any that he was currently as pink as Aurora's dress (face and clothing, that is. Distantly he could hear Ven telling Flora to leave it that way. That kid is getting it when this is over--)

"I'm sorry." he said stupidly, at a total loss for words. Possibly all of his conversational skills have disappeared mysteriously. A part of him was hoping an Unversed attack would happen right now, just to melt away the tension. But no dice. (Unversed are so inconvenient sometimes.) Aqua stopped, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him up and down. Terra frowned, resisting the urge to match the look, but new it would be futile anyway.

Oh what would he give just to fight the Wheelmaster again than be in this situation.

"Is that all you can say?" her voice was sharp, piercing him as if he'd been doused by cold water (he knew her being Eraqus' favorite amounted to something.)

"What _else_ do you want me to say?" this time it was his turn to frown. And to his surprise, it was Aqua's turn to look as if she's caught off guard, Her head turned away, and Terra sighed.

"Ven's right." Her attention turned back to him, and he tried to piece the right words together. "We.... really are just going in circles."

There was an uncomfortable silence before Aqua leaned back against a large boulder, eyes studying her shoes carefully. The Enchanted Dominion's Castle distantly, turrets waving gaily as a celebration for Prince Philip and Princess Aurora's engagement. Now in retrospect, everything seemed so silly, and he could tell he wasn't the only one feeling stupid for how they both acted. After a while, she spoke up, eyes still trained on those damn shoes.

"Mm. But... it's not like either of us had made a decision to do anything about it."

"Does having this conversation count as doing anything about it?"

The words were out of his mouth before he could think them, but it did, however, broke the proverbial ice, so to speak. Aqua smiled a bit, uncrossing her arms, but glancing away. Feeling a little braver, Terra stepped forward, but the magician held up a gloved hand.

"I'm still mad at you." Goddamnit. Women.

"What exactly do you want me to do?" he asked, frowning again. She didn't look angry. On the contrary, that look on her face was something that...

...definitely didn't bode well.

"Do me a favor. And _then_ we'll talk about this seriously."

It took Terra a few seconds to realize what she could possibly be thinking.

"You are such a genius." Ven grinned from ear to ear, clearly enjoying himself. A blue alien was sitting on top of his head, and both of them were eating giant lollipops. But it wasn't the treats that was the source of their enjoyment, oh no.

Aqua giggled again as Terra nearly tripped on his feet, the glittery glass slippers nearly choking his feet, and for the nth time, Ven toppled off the rock he was sitting on, own laughter drowned out by six-two-six's grating and insane laugh. Aqua herself grinned widely, mentally taking the blonde princess that had loaned her the slippers.

"Very good, Terra. Now go walk down the path again."

There was a groan from the oldest chaser. Aqua knew she was pushing him, but hey, this was long overdue, especially after what he did in the Enchanted Dominion regarding Darkness. By now, both Ven and the alien had almost melted to a puddle of laughter. As terra sulkingly (and painfully) made his way again, looking like he could fall over the sand anytime soon, Ven managed to stop guffawing for a few seconds to glance at Aqua.

"Seriously, I have no idea what you told him for him to actually do this. You're scary."

"Oh, it's not what I told him. It's more of what I'm about to tell and _do_ to him afterwards."

... Aqua found the look on Ven's face quite priceless. And she mischievously giggled at his expression, before getting distracted when Terra slipped on the shore of Hawaii, knocking against a fat bald man and sending the chocolate mint ice cream flying.


End file.
